Tuesday trial to determine fate of Warhol’s Fawcett portrait

A trial starts Tuesday to determine the fate of an Andy Warhol painting of the late actress Farrah Fawcett, who donated her art collection to her alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin, when she died in 2009 at the age of 62.

Fawcett’s longtime partner, actor Ryan O’Neal, is being sued by the university for ownership of the painting, which he claims he gave to Fawcett for safe-keeping, The Daily Beast reports. He kept the portrait when the couple split up in 1997 and then returned it to Fawcett the following year, stating that his girlfriend at the time didn’t like it in the house.

O’Neal said Warhol gave him the painting, ABC reports. He said he kept it at Fawcett’s home and his beach home over the years, and he wants the Warhol to go to the couple’s son, Redmond.

Officials at the University of Texas claim that the portrait belongs to the university, since Fawcett gave her entire art collection to the school. The artwork in dispute is one of two portraits of Fawcett. The other portrait is currently hanging in the university’s gallery.

According to The Daily Beast, UT officials state that Fawcett listed the Warhol on her insurance policy the last four years of her life.

While a freshman at the university, Fawcett was named one of the “Ten Most Beautiful Coeds on Campus.”